You'll get more than 2m for him, probably something like 2.5m. Still annoyed at the quality-superb bat that was middle of both levels that I couldn't get last week because I was busy getting crap tiles in Abergavenny.

Anyway for 4m you can get wonderfuls, superb all-rounders or a little lower than that if they're like 18.

You'll get more than 2m for him, probably something like 2.5m. Still annoyed at the quality-superb bat that was middle of both levels that I couldn't get last week because I was busy getting crap tiles in Abergavenny.

Anyway for 4m you can get wonderfuls, superb all-rounders or a little lower than that if they're like 18.

BTW Mahindinho, I'm not referring to Swansea in my header - I do actually have to live just outside Cardiff these days, owing to work. To save typing it out over again, if you don't mind, I'll cut and paste from a previous post

"However my main objection is commuting! When I first started working I tried and failed to commute back and forth to work, and in the end it was my deteriorating mental state brought about by trains, which led to me having to up sticks from my beloved God's city of Swansea, to move up here to Chav Central, AKA Cardiff.
'My deteriorating mental state' sounds a bit dramatic I suppose, I don't want you to go away thinking I'm some sort of nut-job, (well no more than you already do anyway!) but what I meant was that Great Western's sheer ineptitude was ruining my quality of life. In theory, it should have only taken me fifty minutes to get from Swansea to Cardiff and vice Versa, but in nine months of commuting, I think the bloody thing ran on time about twice! Mind you, this was in the immediate aftermath of the Hatfield rail crash, so maybe things have improved since. I was leaving the house at about half seven and not
getting home some nights until gone nine. Although, having said I don't want you to think I'm some sort of nut-job, I think I was actually beginning to crack up:-) I developed a pathological hatred of those recorded announcements they have at train stations - You know the ones?

"Ding dang dong - I'm sorry to announce that the 19:03 service to Swansea is delayed by approximately one hour and seventeen minutes - Owing to emergency speed restrictions on the Acton Main Line - First Great Western are extremely sorry for the severe delay to this service!"

Two main problems with these: Firstly, how the **** can they say "*I'm* sorry to announce..."? It's a ****ing robot! - You can't be sorry, you're not real! Give me a human to shout at, I'll bloody well tell them what a misery they were making of my life - I'll make sure their *extremely* sorry, don't you worry! And secondly, five minutes later the same announcement would come on again, giving the same excuse, but this time it would be an hour and twenty-five minutes late.
A, how can it give the same excuse for getting *even* later, when one assumes that by this stage the train has already passed the aforementioned speed restrictions on the Acton Main Line?
And B, how can it have possibly got another *eight* minutes late since the last announcement, which was only *five* minutes ago? I mean, surely to god, even if it had have stopped dead in it's tracks since the first announcement then it could still only have been another five minutes late? To have got eight minutes later in the space of five minutes it must actually have gone into reverse, and gone back up the track towards frigging Paddington!!!! Never trust train companies, , they lie to you! Also never trust men with centre partings, or anyone who has two Christian names instead of a proper surname, or anyone who calls you 'Chick' - Stick to those four basic rules and you won't go far wrong in life."

Yes, quite a few of my good players are still getting trained. Staveley (21) is High Sup/Resp Bat, and is due for a Bat and Conc pop soon. I'll carry on training him for another couple of seasons, and hopefully he'll be Wand/Qual by his mid twenties.

Greening (20) is currently Qual/Comp Bat, and due to turn Rem in the next month. Hopefully I can get him up to Sens before I'm done with him, but his Conc has, and I guess will continue to, hold him back from his true potential, so before he gets that far I might trade him in for a lower skilled, but younger and more rounded batsman.

20yo Keeper Noon is Resp WK and Prof/Resp Bat - And is due for a pop in all three in the near future. Guess he's not starting from a high enough position to make it worth training him indefinitely, like the other two, but I'll give him at least next season, by which time he'll hopefully be Sup/Sup Bat, and close to Sup WK. His batting should then be good enough to hold down a place in my middle order for the time being, and his keeping will be as good as I want really. I don't really have the statistical analysis to back this up, but I've got a hunch that you get diminishing returns from WKs, the higher up the levels you go. I mean, I don't think that there's the same difference in performance between a Prof WK and a Rem WK, as there would be between a Prof Bat or bowl and a Rem counterpart. I suppose that there are a limited amount of chances for keepers, and if you only get three chances then you can only take three catches, even if those three catches were so easy a Med WK could have taken them. Plus, if you get a proper Gun all-round WK, the wages are prohibitively expensive, certainly in comparison to their return in terms of performances. I don't know, I'd certainly say this is true at the level at which I'm playing, but perhaps when you get further up the leagues you need a better keeper to compete?

Anyway, the other batting trainees are 21Yo Patel and 19YO Bennett. Patel is Prof/Resp Bat, and is only getting a net until he reaches Strong in a month or two, and only that because he's Sup/Feeb Lead and I'd like to keep him as captain of the side for as long as possible. Bennett is Prof/Med Bat, and due to hit Strong soon. He may go on to Qual/Strong or something, or I might flog him TBH, as he can only get runs in the middle order, which is a bit of a bind with a WK/Batsman and an All-rounder also in the top six.

My only bowling trainee is 20YO Bewers. He's now Sup/Resp, and due for a Bowl and Cons pop before long. I'll persevere with him, and I guess he'll reach Wand/Qual in time. However, Bewers is a Cautious LM, so at some stage in the future I'll have to find the funds to buy a strike bowler.

All-rounder Steve Cash (30) is getting one fielding net, out of curiosity as much as anything. He's Resp/Strong Bat and Strong/Comp Bowl, and I'm getting pretty regular secondary poppage out of him - Which is nice, though I'm not sure it's worth carrying on the experiment beyond the end of the season.

I know that a lot of my trainees are getting on a bit, and that, in the long term, I'd get more change out of 17yo Resps, but with no money to bring in trainees without having to sacrifice a first team player, what can I do? I've figured that this group of players is good enough to succeed eventually, even if weaker teams overtake me in the short term.

Never trust train companies, , they lie to you! Also never trust men with centre partings, or anyone who has two Christian names instead of a proper surname, or anyone who calls you 'Chick' - Stick to those four basic rules and you won't go far wrong in life."

*grin*

I've always adhered to rules #1 and #3, while #4 sounds rather sensible...but I'm not sure of #2.

That all looks fairly sensible, actually - you're training some older players, but they've all got decent stats. As long as you're not training solely for profit, you're alright. It's actually looking very much like a slightly older version of my team from the start of last season - as the general level of your team increases, you'll find that you start beating the "superstar" teams to whom you used to lose.

However, I'd seriously consider stopping training Stavely and Patel as soon as they pop, and instead giving their nets over to Greening and Bewers, who'd benefit more from the boost. You REALLY want those two to hit Remarkable or even Wonderful before they get too old. Okay, maybe get Staveley up to Remarkable

I don't know what your bowling lineup's like, but I'd consider selling Patel (or even Staveley) once popped, to get a better (and trainable) bowler or two in - at the moment, it looks as you're going to have a bit of an unbalanced side, esp. when FC games come in and you have trouble taking 20 wickets.

I've got a similar problem, in that I need to sell one of my bowlers at some point and buy a third gun batsman (Qual+).

Wicketkeeping's an interesting one - obviously they increase your fielding rating, and that's going to increase the probability of getting catches...but how much of an individual difference do they make? I'd guess that, like in the real world, better WKs are going to come into their own for the FC matches.

What does everyone else think? Not that you'd trust my opinion anyway, what with my (slight) centre parting

Will Def pull Patel's net once he gets to Strong in the next month or so, but not sure if I should sell him. He's Comp Field, which is one of the better in my side, and Sup/Feeb lead, which would be difficult to top without going into the realms of 30-odd YO players, or internationals, who are way out of my price-range. Besides, Strong/Resp Bat will almost certainly be good enough to get in my top seven for another three seasons still. Although, on the other side of the coin, I'm yet to be convinced of how important captaincy is? A couple of seasons ago I switched my batting order around, but forgot to move the armband. Consequently a Feeb/Abs captain skippered us for a few matches before I noticed the mistake, with no appreciable difference in team performance. Perhaps it's another one of those things which won't come into its own until FC?

So I can free up one net when Patel pops, and I suppose I could take cash's fielding net away? Do you think I'd get more change out of: A, two Bowling nets on Bewers? B, A Bowl and a Field on Bewers? C, as I am currently, a Bowl on Bewers and a Field on Cash?

But not going to pull Staveley's batting net in favour of giving another to Greening. Partly because Staveley is my most consistent performer. Greening hits a spectacular knock one in four innings, but leaves the week-to-week donkey-work up to Staveley. And Secondly, given how far Greening's Conc lags behind his Batting, and how long it takes to train secondaries, (even with a WK net as he has currently), I'm not even sure if I'm going to keep Greening long term.

Normally have an end-of-season fat camp, where I sack all the coaches, and replace them with 10 fitness coaches to get all the first XI up a level of Stam. But seeing as there's another delay in FC, and all the starting team are already Comp or better Stam, I don't think I'm going to bother this time, as I figure I'll get more out of just pressing on with the regular training over an extended closed season.

BTW, don't worry about the centre parting - Speaking as a man who, through the course of his life, has sported both a mullet and bleached blond hair - I'm hardly in a position to give out fashion tips!

Right. Time for one of my occasional long posts that no-one really cares about, but I'd like some thoughts anyway

Openers

My opening positon is a bit of a revolving door at the moment, with my attempt to find someone consistently scoring from the top.

Right now I have Dominic Kerwin and Andrew Lea opening for me, as a bit of an experiment. I'm convinced that a destructive opener (Lea) will do well as a pinch-hitter of sorts, while Kerwin's steady style should be able to make sure we don't find my best 2 batsmen, Gowshall and Aldred, in at 2/2. Gowshall, Aldred and Ndah could all bat at the top, and there's no real difference between Kerwin and Ndah.

Gowshall and Aldred have been playing at 3 and 4 for a couple of seasons now, and are really finding a niché there. It's better for Aldred's PFL, considering he's bowling as well, and Gowshall bats better with a platform to build on. 5 is Ndah, who is there to play the anchor role if we get into trouble. At Number 6 is allrounder Dwight Kealey, the youngest member of the team at 17, and one of the most promising. Number 7 is wicket-keeper Wanless. At 8, I'm playing a specialist bat, in Mccammon, who i'm trying to get ready to slot in up the order or sell. He plays because I have 2 allrounders. He is also only the 2nd left-handed specialist bat.

I am a brave man, I am a coward.I am the tiger, I am the flower.I am honest, and I'm a liar.I am vital, I am tired.I am a free man, I am caught.From where I am, I see the top.I am most importantly never concerned with what I am not.Forever, more than just surviving.THIS IS MY LIFE AND THIS LIFE IS MY DIAMOND

Will Def pull Patel's net once he gets to Strong in the next month or so, but not sure if I should sell him....{snip} stuff about captaincy {snip}...Perhaps it's another one of those things which won't come into its own until FC?

I reckon so - maybe underperforming bowlers would get pulled off (fnarr) more quickly by better captains.

Originally Posted by trevor_vayro

So I can free up one net when Patel pops, and I suppose I could take cash's fielding net away? Do you think I'd get more change out of: A, two Bowling nets on Bewers? B, A Bowl and a Field on Bewers? C, as I am currently, a Bowl on Bewers and a Field on Cash?

If Cash is likely to be in your team for a while, you may as well keep going with him for a level or two - he's not a bad all-rounder, and his secondaries should improve quickly. No-one knows at what age skills will start to decrease, unfortunately

A. I'd tend to double-up on primary nets for key younger players, just to get make the most of the quicker primary skills training. Obviously, you still get some secondary benefit anyway. If you can get him to Remark++ (or even Wonderful) while he's 21, you'll be laughing. The secondaries can come later, although you'd get a few pops as it is.

Originally Posted by trevor_vayro

But not going to pull Staveley's batting net in favour of giving another to Greening. Partly because Staveley is my most consistent performer.

Fair enough, but watch out - 'form' is temporary; class is permanent

If you do end up selling Greening, time it right and you'll get plenty of cash to bolster that bowling attack.

Originally Posted by trevor_vayro

Normally have an end-of-season fat camp, where I sack all the coaches,

I would drop Lea your destructive bat to number 5, against half defent bowlers, that you'll probably face in Div IV he probably just get out cheaply. Also i've noticed that destructive bats are generally a lot more effective during the last ten overs, then first ten, well mine are.

Also if you have a spare net or two i would get a trainee batsmen, instead of Mccammon, i doubt he'll will ever get that high. My guess is that most games you/Bardle will roll your opp for under 200. But you might come up against some half decent bowlers, who could roll your batsmen for under 200 as well.

With a 17yo respectable bat you'll be able to get him up to superb by end of the season on two nets. He'll probably be proficient to strong for most of the season, but that could be enough to chase most total you get set.

The man, the mountain, the Mathews. The greatest all rounder since Keith Miller. (Y)

Personally, I'd stick to openers with a bit more concentration, and probably swap Aldred (or mawbe Gowshall) for Lea in the batting order. There are problems with both of those, though - Aldred will take a fitness hit if he bats for a while (although, set to attacking, he may not stick around all that long), while Gowshall is defensive.

You can just see how it goes, really - if Lea keeps getting knocked over cheaply, change thinigs.